Red Shoes
by ukulelefoot
Summary: My first fanfic! Rachel is arrested after Nick Savage is assaulted. It unexpectedly affects Gill and Julie's relationship... Only rated M because I'm not really sure!
1. Chapter 1

Feigning patience, Julie waited in Gill's office, both thrilled to be seeing her and nervous about the circumstances. As Gill walked in and took her bag and coat off, Julie didn't look up from her phone – partly because she was finishing a text and partly because she was trying to avoid the look Gill gave her that took her breath away.

'That wasn't twenty minutes. That was half an hour.'

Gill smiled at that comment, knowing that Julie was just teasing. How she wanted to just hold Julie and kiss her for hours right there and then. She looked beautiful stretched out with her feet up on the desk as if she was at home. Those red shoes made her legs more beautiful than Gill imagined possible... But she knew that anything even _slightly_ out of the ordinary and someone would work it out. They were surrounded by detectives, after all!

'D'you want a brew?' she asked, hanging up her coat.

'Somebody reckons to be making me one,' sighed Julie, stealing a look at Gill's behind before looking out of the office to see whether this was actually true.

'Shift your backside.' She gently hit Julie's stylish red heels off of her desk with her handbag and let her girlfriend get up, giving her a little smirk. Julie responded with a look of mock annoyance, but remembered that the red shoes had Gill's approval.

'How's tricks?' asked Julie, shutting the door. She hadn't seen Gill for a couple of days so thought a catch-up was in order.

'Not so bad. Dave's being a twat, but then...' she slid open the zip of her handbag to find her glasses, '...that's no longer likely to hit the headlines.'

Julie sat down on a cabinet opposite Gill. She noticed that Gill's top button was undone and was desperate to say something about this, but she knew she was here for work and she liked to think of herself as a true professional.

'Tell me about Rachel Bailey,' Julie said apprehensively.

'Eh. You keep your hands off her, she's mine.' Gill glanced up at her friend with an inch of a smile, ensuring that Julie knew what she meant. She seemed to understand.

'I'm not headhunting.' Julie knew she had to talk about this but it was going to be difficult. Plus, there were so many other things she thought she wanted to be doing right now, although most of these things _did_ include a certain sexy lady in the same room as her...

'What d'you want to know about her?' Gill snapped Julie out of her daydreams and started typing away at her computer. How did Gill manage to keep her emotions in check when it took all of Julie's willpower to keep herself from doing anything compromising to their situation?

'Anything.' She raised her eyebrow, trying to be mysterious and feeling like a bit of a fool for it.

Gill didn't need to think much about her answer – it came pretty naturally.

'She's clever, ambitious, instinctive. She's one of us.' She was starting to wonder what Julie was trying to get at, but knew she would get there eventually.

'Any problems?' Julie asked her, sincerely hoping that the answer would be no.

Stilling her typing fingers for a moment, Gill took a deep breath, finished her sentence, and answered, not taking her eyes off the screen.

'She talks before she thinks, now and again, but no, I like her, a lot. Wish I had more people like her. Why?' She looked up at Julie over the top of her glasses, of which they both knew the effect on Julie, but they had to put aside their personal life now and be completely professional. Julie composed herself with a sharp inhalation and stood up to deliver the news while Gill carried on typing.

'Last night, a man had seven shades of shit kicked out of him in the car park underneath the Bridgewater Tower on Deansgate. His back's broken in two places, he's unconscious, we think he was left for dead.'

'And?' Gill looked up at her again, but this time, Julie couldn't focus on that because...

'Nicholas Savage.' She said it with as much professionalism as possible but knew that this was going to be such a blow for Gill, as well as Rachel, of course. She saw her girlfriend's face fall as she carried on.

'Her name's popped up as someone we need to T.I.E.' She leaned over Gill's desk, wanting to be close, but also for secrecy. 'In fact, between you and me, she's at the top of the list.'

'Who put her at the top of the list?' said Gill, loving how near Julie was and taking off her glasses. She realised that she wouldn't be needing them for a bit, and wanted to look Julie right in the eye without the frames in the way.

'His sister. She's a barrister as well.'

'As well as who? He's not. He's under investigation. He's gonna get struck off.' Gill could feel her emotions rising. She felt a really strong motherly instinct towards Rachel and her personal opinions were starting to leak into her usual level-headedness. Julie stood up straight and smiled as she realised what was going on in Gill's head.

'You don't like him either.' She couldn't wait for an explanation. Gill was more than happy to oblige.

'He paid someone to kill her. Rachel. I was with her when she found out and I saw the effect it had on her. And the CPS have ducked out of the responsibility of pressing charges against him because of-'

'-insufficient evidence,' they chorused.

'I know. Which gives her one mother of a big motive, doesn't it?' Julie said, sitting back down on the cabinet and looking at Gill as if to challenge her.

'She wouldn't be that daft.' Gill was insistent, and although she knew all of the procedures that the police had to go through, she couldn't believe the look that Julie was giving her.

'She's got a fantastic career in front of her. She wouldn't blow it. Not for that bastard, he's damaged her enough.'

'Good. We won't find anything on her then, will we?' Julie was dreading that evening. She'd have to have a conversation with Gill about this – there was no way her girlfriend was going to let it go.

There was a knock on the door and Rachel entered, looking a little less with it than normal. She handed Julie her drink.

'Did you want one, Boss?'

Gill didn't answer. She just wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible.

'Rachel, this is Detective Superintendent Julie Dodson,' she said, indicating her girlfr- no, colleague. She didn't let herself even think about their relationship in front of people, lest it gave _anything_ away.

'Ma'am. How d'you do. I've heard a lot about you.' Rachel went back to stand next to the door, looking a bit nervous in the presence of _two_ senior officers.

'Yeah, all bad,' she sighed, knowing what her reputation was and remembering that Kevin was now in this syndicate.

'Did you want a sugar in that?' She went to walk out of the office.

'No, thanks. What have you done to your head?'

Rachel paused. Why was a someone she'd only just met worried about how she'd scratched herself?

'And your hand?'

Julie was stroking the mug, looking straight at Rachel. She felt so uncomfortable. There was obviously something that DSI Dodson wasn't saying. She tried to brush it off.

'You wouldn't believe me if I told you.'

'Try me.' Julie smiled at her, but Rachel wasn't a detective for nothing and she saw right through it.

'No, honestly, it's not worth repeating.' She looked over at Gill for support, only to see her staring at Julie, so she looked back.

'I want to know how you hurt yourself, Rachel,' said Julie insistently.

OK, so now this was super-awkward...

'I went to a party, a hen party. Er, my sister's friend, so...'

'Where?'

'A bar up the Bridgewater Tower.' Julie looked at Gill.

'Level 27.' Gill looked at Julie. The resignation in her face was something that Julie had never seen before. They held a gaze and then turned back to Rachel and Julie continued with the flow of questions.

'When?'

'Last night.' Julie averted her eyes to the floor and had more rushing through her brain than she thought possible. She wanted it to be Rachel as much as she wanted to be stabbed in the chest – Gill obviously really valued her as an officer and whoever was good enough for Gill was good enough for Julie.

'Just got a bit worse for wear. I just f-fell over getting out of a taxi. Why ma'am?' She looked at Gill, who had an expression Rachel couldn't quite read.

'Sit down,' Gill said, more forcefully than she had intended.

Rachel did as she was told and Julie got up to close the door, hating the situation that she was in. She leant on Gill's desk again, but this time to address Rachel, who felt like a naughty schoolgirl.

'Last night, not a million miles away from where you were, a man called Nicholas Savage...' Rachel looked at Gill for support again, but she had her eyes fixed on Julie, so Rachel looked back to Julie as well and waited for what was next. '...was so badly assaulted, he's ended up unconscious, in hospital, with a broken back.'

Rachel's eyes darted back towards Gill, desperate for something. What that was, she had no idea. Gill realised this but could only look at Rachel with a slightly questioning expression.

'I didn't do it,' Rachel said defiantly. Julie smelt alcohol on her breath and straightened up.

'How much did you have to drink last night?' she asked, in the tone a mother would ask her child. She gave Rachel a look that demanded an answer. If she was being honest, Rachel didn't actually know. She knew that she'd had a lot but she couldn't remember most of the previous night.

'I- It was a hen party.'

Julie knew what had to be done, she knew that she'd get stick for it later and she knew that it wasn't going to be easy, what with Rachel being on Gill's team.

'Ok, Rachel. I'm going to do you the courtesy of not arresting you in front of your colleagues, OK?' Rachel was so confused and by the looks of it, so was Gill, eyes looking anywhere but her colleagues' faces and trying to comprehend what was happening.

'But, having said that, would you have any objection to me taking your mobile phone off you?' There was no reply, but the young detective took her mobile out and handed it to Julie, who shot a quick glance at Gill, immediately wishing she hadn't. The look that Gill had given her would haunt her for the rest of the day.

'Go and put your coat on, you're coming down to Duke Street nick with me.'

'Now?' Rachel couldn't hide the shock in her voice.

'Now. Yep. And a couple of my lads are going to ask you some questions.' She opened the door for Rachel, who, after one last look at Gill and nothing from it, stood up and walked out.

Julie's eyes landed back on Gill's and she gave her the smallest of smiles.

'I'll catch you later.'

Gill was stunned by the lack of compassion from Julie and she had a horrible feeling in her stomach as she saw Rachel put her coat on and walk out of the office. She wasn't sure who this anger building up inside of her was directed at, but she desperately didn't want it to be Julie.


	2. Chapter 2

**Forgot to say last time (sorry - new to this whole 'fanfic' thing) that none of these characters are mine, neither is the dialogue from Chapter 1. All belongs to the wonderful Sally Wainwright. If I did own it, Julie wouldn't be wearing a ring on her wedding ring finger (this makes me very sad).**

**This chapter is short and not so sweet. More to come soon. Hope you enjoy :)**

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'Are you in, Gill?' shouted Julie cautiously as she shut Gill's front door behind her. She hoped she was – she knew that they needed to have a conversation about the events of the day. Walking into the sitting room, she spotted Gill on the sofa with a large glass of wine in her hand. She was uncharacteristically distant.

'Hey, what's wrong?' Julie said as she went to sit down next to Gill, reaching to take her hand, only for Gill to move away from her.

'You're so cold when you want to be,' Gill said bitterly.

'Where the hell has this come from?' Julie was so confused.

'When you came in to arrest Rachel, there was no emotion there.' She refused to make eye contact, because she knew she'd break down if she saw Julie's face.

'Oh, right, and _you_ get emotional when you arrest people? You, of all people, should know that you can't let yourself get involved, Gill.' Julie was trying, and failing, not to raise her voice. Why didn't Gill understand?

'You made me look like a fool!' Gill was definitely shouting now, tears threatening to fall as she looked into her lover's eyes. She hated that she was shouting at her but she had to let her feelings out.

'Waltzing into _my_ office and making yourself at home, treating _my_ constable like shit before you have any evidence, and then leaving me there to replay it over and over in my head.' She was now crying so much that she was shaking. All Julie wanted to do right then was scoop her up into an endless embrace and cry with her but that wasn't going to get them anywhere and her tearful emotions were running high as well.

'I couldn't exactly stay with you, could I? I had a job to do and I'm not someone who would give everything up for some fling she's having with another officer!' That cut Gill like a knife and Julie saw the effect her untrue words in the heat of the moment had had on the one person she couldn't live without. Why the fuck did she say that? It was a complete lie. She started again, almost inaudibly.

'I... I didn't mean that, love...'

'Don't you dare call me "love" after that,' Gill fumed. 'You don't love me-'

'But I do, Gill,' said Julie as she raised her hand in a bid to stroke Gill's cheek, only Gill batted her away.

'Fuck off.'

'What?' Julie was shocked. Surely they could just talk it over like adults?

'You heard me, get out of my house, you bitch!'

Gill had stood up and was all but screaming at Julie by now. They were both in floods of tears as Gill waited for Julie to walk past her into the hall. She followed her. Julie reached the door but turned around before opening it.

'I do love you.'

Gill bowed her head and she knew in her heart of hearts that it was true but after what Julie had said earlier, she wasn't prepared to accept it just yet. After no reply, Julie slowly opened the door, went through it and shut it behind her, leaving Gill alone in the hall.

She slumped down against the wall and cried more than she had for as long as she could remember. Usually, if she was upset, she'd call Julie, who would come round and comfort her. Remembering this only made her cry harder.

Julie stood on Gill's front door step for a while, crying and berating herself for upsetting Gill to such an extent. She pulled herself together just enough so that she could get into her car and drive off, trying to work out how on earth she could get Gill to forgive her.

Gill heard Julie's car driving away and wondered what had taken her so long to go. She wished so hard that today had never happened but she knew rationally that that was pointless. All she wanted right then was for Julie to come back and give her a hug.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's Chapter 3! Depending on whether I get a new wave of inspiration, this is probably the penultimate chapter. Thanks for the welcome to the Scott & Bailey fandom and I hope you enjoy this installment.**

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Work the next day was going by slowly for both of them, and neither of them were completely on the ball. Gill sat in her office, looking at her computer screen but not seeing it. She was always getting annoyed at her team when they brought their personal problems into the office and let them affect the case and here she was, doing exactly that.

Janet appeared at the door and gave it a knock. Gill leant her head on her hands and looked over at Janet, trying to hide any evidence of how she was feeling.

'You alright, Gill?' Janet's voice was soft, not accusing or demanding in any way.

Gill closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Janet entered the office, shutting the door behind her, and sat down on the chair opposite Gill.

'Not bad apart from the fact that someone who means the world to me has done something terrible to me,' Gill said flatly.

Janet wasn't sure how to reply to that at first, but then she had a burst of inspiration.

'It's good to talk about these things. I'm not saying that you've got to tell me, but have you spoken to Julie about it?'

Gill's eyes leaked tears as she heard Julie's name and that was all Janet needed to understand what was going on. Janet didn't know about the intimacy of the relationship between Julie and her friend, but she knew how much Julie meant to Gill. She leant over and placed her hand on Gill's arm for comfort.

'Thanks, Janet,' sniffed Gill once she managed to find her voice.

'Hey, it's ok,' Janet smiled.

Gill wiped her cheeks of her tears and composed herself before she looked at Janet and gave her a little smile.

'She said something that I don't think I can forgive her for.'

'That bad, eh?' Janet was trying not to force it out of Gill even though she knew it was probably better if Gill told someone. She could do it in her own time.

'I want to forgive her so much but she's just...' Gill didn't want to give away any specifics, which Janet realised.

'I tell you what, just think of all of the great times you've had with her and see if this is really worth ruining a friendship for.'

'You're so sensible, Janet. If only I had half of your common sense. I will do just that.'

Janet moved her hand away and looked at Gill for a moment, weighing up her options, before she got up and went back to work, leaving Gill to think.

Julie's day wasn't going much better. Her mind had wandered off halfway through the briefing with her team that morning, which didn't go down well with her officers.

She sometimes went days without contact with Gill when they were just friends and she'd think nothing of it. However, knowing that there was such tension between them combined with desperation to be with Gill, to take back everything that happened, gave her a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt so guilty for saying what she said: it wasn't in the slightest bit true so how did those words even pop into her brain, let alone come out of her mouth?

Maybe it _was_ true, then. If she had thought of it, there must be some reason why.

Her thoughts wandered to a couple of days previously when she had been with Gill and she remembered how she felt when they kissed and caressed each other – a beautiful tingly feeling that she'd only ever experienced with Gill.

But was that just because Gill was her best friend and people generally don't get romantically involved with their best friends? Was it just novelty?

She went on like this for what felt like hours, having an internal debate about whether she actually _did_ love Gill or not. Before she knew it, it was getting late and she'd hardly done any work at all. She packed up and made her way down to the car park. She sat in the car as she made her mind up about what she was going to do.

Julie decided that she had to do something before her relationship with Gill was too ruined to fix.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi all. This is the last chapter of my first fanfic. A milestone in my fangirling 'career'. I can't believe I didn't join this website earlier - honestly, it's epic! Hope you've enjoyed it.**

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Gill was sitting in front of the television. Every so often, she'd make a sarcastic remark to Julie before realising that she wasn't there. It was shit, if she was honest. She wondered whether she and Julie would be able to be friends if this relationship went down the toilet. It would be difficult, but she thought that they'd come through so much together that it would be impossible to get rid of each other. A tear escaped from her eye as she tried to avoid thinking about life without Julie.

A knock on the door interrupted her lamentations. She got up to go and answer it.

Gill opened the door and saw the one person she needed to see. It broke her heart to see Julie in such a state and she couldn't stop the tears from falling as Julie spoke.

'I love you more than life itself. I can't think of one reason why I said what I did because you are perfect and I don't know how I could ever manage without you.'

Gill stood there with her mouth opening and closing, not knowing what to say. Even Julie was surprised at this emotional outpour and felt veritably uncomfortable in the silence that followed.

'Could you please quit the fish impression and say something?'

'I would if I knew what to say.' Gill had no idea how she felt. 'Come in.'

Julie stepped inside and they went to sit down on the sofa.

'Please don't be mad at me,' Julie begged once they'd made themselves comfortable. 'I don't know why I said it because it's probably the most stupid lie that I've ever told.' She sat, staring at Gill, for what felt like an eternity before Gill said something.

'So you're serious about this... us?' She pulled herself together into detective mode and was now trying to get the facts together before she went any further.

'Of course I am. You're a great shag, so...' Julie cautiously tried to inject some humour into the evening.

'Oi, cheeky!' Gill was feeling better about this and responded well to Julie's comment, much to her girlfriend's relief.

'So are we ok?' Julie went back to serious mode. She wanted to make sure that everything was in line before they moved on.

'Of course.' Gill smiled at the woman in front of her who she knew she could never be angry at for too long. 'Because, whatever you do, I can't seem to stay angry with you for long.' Julie started to speak but Gill put her finger to her lover's lips.

'No, shush, it's my turn to embarrass you, now.' She grinned and took hold of Julie's hand, squeezing it gently as if to make sure she didn't disappear.

'I love you too. Honestly. It has been shit without you and I missed you like hell. Now please can we forget everything that's happened in the past few days and go upstairs because I'm having trouble keeping my hands off you.'

She ended with a giggle and Julie nodded gently, with a soft smile on her face.

'I never knew you felt quite like that.' Julie was ecstatic now that she knew Gill felt the same.

'Well, now you do.'

Gill sidled over next to Julie and took her face in her hands. The brief look they shared was one of pure love. They kissed languidly for a few moments before Gill moved to sit on top of Julie and deepened the kiss. Just as they were getting into it, Gill moved back.

'What's up?' Julie was terrified that she'd done something wrong again.

'Nothing, apart from the fact that I meant what I said.' She got up and held her hand out. 'Come on, love, you've got some making up to do.' She winked at Julie, who took her hand and pulled her girlfriend upstairs, kicking off those infamous red shoes, to do very naughty things to her.

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**Hope you've liked this story. I had a ball writing it (apart from the slight writer's block). Sorry if it was a bit fluffy and OOC but I couldn't help myself, they're so perfect for each other!**


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